Grain-separator



(No Model.)

B. E. CHAPMAN. GRAIN SBPARATOR.

Patented July 15,1890.

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lates, Figure 1 is a perspective View.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST EUGENE CHAPMAN, OF DOYLESTOW'N, ASSIGNOR OE ONE-HALF TO FRED NOLLER, OF FOUNTAIN PRAIRIE, VVISOONSIN.

GRAIN-SIIEPARATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 432,370, dated July 15, 1890.

Application filed April 4,1890. Serial No. 346,607- (No model.)

chaff from the thrashing-cylinder to the tail end of the machine, for separating the grain andstraw from the chaff, and for returning the grain to the front end of the machine, where it is eventually delivered.

In grain-separators as ordinarily constructed it has been customary to deliver the grain at the side of the machine near the tail end.

This has been obj ectionable, becausethis point of delivery has been very much exposed to the dust and chaif which have been blown out at the tail end of the machine. By my present improvement I aim to overcome this 0bjection by returning the grain to and delivering it at the front end of the machine, where it may be conveniently measured.

With these ends in view my invention consists in the improved construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which I have shown only those parts of a grain-separator to which my invention distinctly re- Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 4: 1 in Fig. 2.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 1 designate the sides of the frame, which are supported upon the'sills 2 2.

It will be understood that in the drawings hereto annexed only a portion of the frame has been shown, for the purpose of showing more clearly the parts of the machine to which my invention especially relates.

The sides 1 1 are provided near their front ends with bearings for a transverse shaft 3, in rear of which boxes 4 are mounted, forming bearings for a transverse shaft 5. The shafts 3 and 5, to either of which mot-ion may be communicated, either from the cylindershaft or from any other suitable part of the machine, are provided with pulleys designated, respectively, 6 and 7, the pulley 7 upon the shaft 5 being the larger of the two. The pulleys 6 and 7 are connected by a twisted belt 8, whereby the shafts 5 and 3 are rotated in opposite directions, the shaft 3 at a greater rate of speed than the shaft 5, as will be readily understood, owing to the proportions of the parts.

9 designates a longitudinal trough or casing, which is provided on its under side near its front end with boxes 10, journaled upon a crank 11 upon the shaft 5. The sides of the said trough or casing are extended in the rear, forming arms or brackets 12, which are connected pivotally with the upper ends of spring-supports 13, secured near their rear ends to the sides of the frame. It willbe seen that by this method of mounting the trough, when the crank-shaft 5 is in operation, the front end'of said trough will receive a vibratory movement, while its rear end will receive a peculiar jerky motion, caused by the springsupports 13, upon which it rests, and which I have found particularly desirable for efiecting the purposes of my invention.

The upper edges of the side pieces of the trough 9 are provided with cross-pieces or braces 14, supporting the side pieces 15 of the straw conveyer and separator. pieces are each provided with a series of upwardly and rearwardly inclined steps 16, having vertical rear walls 17, and provided in their upper sides with inclined notches 18. In these notches are secured the transverse slats 19, the rear edge of each of which is elevated slightly above the front edge of the one next in rear of it. These slats form aseries of independent steps that serve to sift or screen the grain and chaff from the straw, as will be presently more fully described.

The rear ends of the sides 15 of the straw Said sideconveyer are provided with upwardly-curved extensions 20, the upper edges of which are provided with inclined notches 21,in which transverse slats 22 are seated in like manner as the slats 19 in the notches 18. The slats 22 are provided with upwardly and rearwardly inclined teeth or spurs 23.

The under sides of the rearward extensions 20 are provided with a bottom 21L, composed of a series of steps 25, having approximately horizontal or upwardly and rearwardly inclined upper sides and abrupt or approximately vertical front edges. minates a short distance in the rear of the floor 26 of the trough 9. Said floor 26 is provided with a series of transverse ribs or ridges 2T, inclined upwardly and rearwardly and having vertical rear edges. Said ribs serve to convey the grain and chaff in a rearward direction during the operation of the machine.

28 designates a shoe, which is arranged below the trough 0 directly under the rear or discharge end of the latter. Said shoe has a curved or concaved bottom, and its sides are cut away, as will be seen at 2!), to accommodate the fan-case 30, which is mounted between the sides of the casing or frame of the machine. The discharge-opening of the said fan-case is in alignment with the open frontend of the shoe. verge forwardly and terminate in a tubular chute 31, which extends to the front end of the casin g of the machine, where it is provided with a box 32, journaled upon a crank on the shaft The bottom of the chute 31, as well as a portion of the bottom of the shoe,is provided with an upwardly and forwardly inclined transverse ribs or ridges 3i, having approximately vertical front edges The shoe is connected pivotally, by means of latertilly-extending pins or trunnions 36, with spring-supports 37, which are secured to the sides of the frame of the machine.

The operation is as follows: The motion imparted to the straw-conveyor and its attachments and to the shoe and conveying-chute is substantially the same, with the exception that the motion of the latter is reversed and at a slightlygreat'er rate of speed. porting-springs 37 being located near the front end, will also somewhat increase the jerky or vibratory movement. The machine should be run at a high rate of speed-say five hundred revolutions per minuteand the straw, grain, and chaff as they leave the cylinder aredelivered onto the straw-conveyer, by which they are fed gradually in a rearward direction. The grain and chaff will be thoroughly separated from the straw and will drop between the slats 19 onto the bottom of the trough or grain-conveyor 9. \Vhen the end of each of the steps 16 of the straw-conveyor is reached, the straw will be dropped violently over the wall 17 of said step upon the front end of the next step, and the perfect separation of the grain and chaff from the straw will thus be greatly fa- This floor terof the straw-conveyor. shoe and its forwardly-extending discharge The sides of the latter con- The supcilitated. The straw continues its rearward course until it is deposited upon the toothed slats 22 of the upwardly-curved rearward extensions 20, where the separation is completed and whence the straw is eventually delivered to the straw-carrier. The grain and chaff which are dropped into the trough 9 are fed rearwardly by the motion of said trough until they drop over the rear edge of the bottom of the latter and into the shoe 28. In droppinginto thelatter they are exposed to the blast of the fan contained in the case 30, by which the chaff is blown out through the tail end of the machine. In like manner the chaff is separated from the grain which drops into the shoe from the floor 24 of the curved extensions 20 By the motion of the chute the grain is fed forwardly through the latter, and is eventually discharged at the front end of the machine, where it may be conveniently measured.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination of the grain-conveying trough having upwardly and rearwardly inclined transverse bottom ridges and the sides of which are provided with rearwardly-extending arms, the grain-conveyor mounted upon said trough and having a series of upwardly and real-wardly inclined steps, each provided with a series of upwardly and rearwardl y inclined transverse slats, the upwardly and rearwardly curved extensions of said grain-conveyer, the transverse toothed slats mounted in inclined notches in the upper edges of said extensions, the floor for the latter having transverse ribs, a transverse crankshaft supporting the front end of the graintrough, and the springs supporting the rearwardly-extending arms of the latter, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the grain-conveying trough, the straw-conveyor mounted upon the same, the shoe mounted below the discharge end of said grain-conveying trough and having the forwardly-extending chute, the crankshafts supporting the front ends of said chute and the grain conveying trough, and the springs connected pivotally with and supporting the rearwardly-extending arms of the latter and the shoe, substantially as set forth.

The combination of the grain-conveyor having upwardly and rcarwardly inclined transverse ridges, the straw-conveyer mounted thereon and having upwardly and rearwardly inclined steps, each of which is provided with transverse upwardly and rearwardly inclined slats, the upwardly and rearwardly inclined extension of the straw-conveyor having transverse toothed slats and provided with a curved bottom the frontend of which terminates in rear of the rear end of the bottom of the grain-conveyor, the shoe arranged below the discharge end of the grain-conveyor and having a tubular discharge-chute extending to the front end of the. I11 testimony that I claim the foregoing as 10 machine, the fan-case extending transversely my own I have hereto affixed my signature in across and in front of the shoe, the crankpresence of two witnesses.

shafts supporting the front ends of the grain conveyer and of the discharge-chute, and the ERNEST EUGENE CHAPMAN springs connected pivotally with and supporting the shoe, and arms extending rear- \Vitnesses:

wardly from the grain-conveyer, substantially E. V. BRIEsEN,

as set forth. FRED NoLLER. 

